Esteban Gutierrez does not think managing tyre degradation over a race distance is that difficult and says his main focus now he has completed his pre-season is to on improve his qualifying pace.

Several drivers have complained about increased degradation during this year's pre-season tests, with the new Pirellis suffering from graining in the low temperatures. However, after completing a race simulation in the Sauber, Gutierrez believes the tyres are manageable over longer stints.

"To be honest it was not that difficult," he said. "Once you get a good understanding of the tyres there is a possibility to manage them and I feel very comfortable with that. That was very interesting from my side and also the feedback for the team to have a proper long run and a race simulation. So from that side we are quite positive."

The next time Gutierrez drives the Sauber will be at the Australian Grand Prix and he said his main focus will be on extracting the maximum performance from a new set of tyres over one lap.

"In qualifying mode I think I can improve a little bit for sure," he added. "I will try to do my best to get up to speed as soon as possible. There is a certain tyre management on a new-tyre run where you have to compromise certain sectors to get the third sector right. To find this compromise is one of the things I need to work on and also this is completely different to managing the tyre on the long run."